Good one! M-W makes this note but their usage example still uses paid.
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Ooh now then. Let’s talk about that “bate”.
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Let’s just eliminate all vowels and be done with it.
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English can be simplified a lot.
Ya got me im batin right now 
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There’s been some notable efforts to do so, but they never took hold.
The board for simplified spelling for people what can’t spell so good made some long-lasting changes in the USA.
I’m waiting with baited breath.
Or “towed the line”.
Which reminds me (hey, I’m old and garrulous)-
“Helen, thy love to me,
Like those Nicean barks of yore…”
-Edgar Allan Poe, “To Helen”.
In 1986 I had to explain to a Chinese professor of English Lit. in Beijing why none of the dictionary definitions of ‘bark’ made any sense in the context of the poem (sounds made by dogs; the skins of trees).
Short edition: The ship was originally called either a ‘barque’ or ‘bark’. Poe was a fan of Noah Webster and supported the phonetic spelling for the American language, hence color, neighbor, center, theater instead of colour, neighbour, centre, theatre and, most relevant here, check for cheque .
There were many usages of checks, but fewer of barks (as sailing ships) as. sadly, the steamship came to the fore, so the newer term fell out of use, and didn’t make it into English-(mainland) Chinese dictionaries, most of which (at the time) used British English. They listed the American variation for common words, but not for barque.
(I use American English as my default setting; Microsoft informs me that the spelling is incorrect for cheques, but not barques).
I admit my initial response was “have to go now; I’ll get back to you” followed by two days feverishly thumbing through the American Center library in Beijing.
(Ahh, American Center Libraries- In my traveling days in the 70s-80s I spent many an hour in air-conditioned bliss, mostly in Africa and Asia, courtesy of the American taxpayer,)
I always wondered what the Barque meant in the USCG Barque Eagle, but never got around to googling it. Thanks!
URL edited (thanks @BiggusDickus ) : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USCGC_Eagle_(WIX-327)
Funny, “bark” immediately suggests “ship” to me. All that history reading!
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The link you are accessing has been blocked in accordance with USCGA Policy.
These coast guards are serious about protecting their privacy.
I guess they block access from outside the US. Will find a different link. Thanks
Although the verb embark gets a k in US English.
I never thought of that. But I’m more familiar with the “bark” spelling. Reading Mike’s post again though, not sure i would have picked it up in '86.